1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of magnetoresistive (MR) elements and, in particular, to (MR) elements having a continuous flux guide defined by the free layer. More particularly, the invention relates to a flux guide of an MR element that is processed to reduce the conductive characteristics of the flux guide.
2. Statement of the Problem
Many computer systems use magnetic disk drives for mass storage of information. Magnetic disk drives typically include one or more recording heads (sometimes referred to as sliders) that include read elements and write elements. A suspension arm holds the recording head above a magnetic disk. When the magnetic disk rotates, an air flow generated by the rotation of the magnetic disk causes an air bearing surface (ABS) side of the recording head to ride a particular height above the magnetic disk. The height depends on the shape of the ABS. As the recording head rides on the air bearing, an actuator moves an actuator arm that is connected to the suspension arm to position the read element and the write element over selected tracks of the magnetic disk.
To read data from the magnetic disk, transitions on a track of the magnetic disk create magnetic fields. As the read element passes over the transitions, the magnetic fields of the transitions modulate the resistance of the read element. The change in resistance of the read element is detected by passing a sense current through the read element and then measuring the change in voltage across the read element. The resulting signal is used to recover the data encoded on the track of the magnetic disk.
The most common type of read elements are magnetoresistive (MR) read elements. One type of MR read element is a Giant MR (GMR) read element. GMR read elements using two layers of ferromagnetic material (e.g., NiFe) separated by a layer of nonmagnetic material (e.g., Cu) are generally referred to as spin valve (SV) elements. A simple-pinned SV read element generally includes an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer, a first ferromagnetic layer, a spacer layer, and a second ferromagnetic layer. The first ferromagnetic layer (referred to as the pinned layer) has its magnetization typically fixed (pinned) by exchange coupling with the AFM layer (referred to as the pinning layer). The pinning layer generally fixes the magnetic moment of the pinned layer perpendicular to the ABS of the recording head. The magnetization of the second ferromagnetic layer, referred to as a free layer, is not fixed and is free to rotate in response to the magnetic field from the magnetic disk. The magnetic moment of the free layer is free to rotate upwardly and downwardly with respect to the ABS in response to positive and negative magnetic fields from the rotating magnetic disk. The free layer is separated from the pinned layer by the spacer layer, which is nonmagnetic and electrically conducting.
Another type of spin valve read element is an antiparallel pinned (AP) SV read element. The AP-pinned SV read element differs from the simple pinned SV read element in that an AP-pinned structure has multiple thin film layers forming the pinned layer instead of a single pinned layer. The AP-pinned structure has an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer between first and second ferromagnetic pinned layers. The first pinned layer has a magnetization oriented in a first direction perpendicular to the ABS by exchange coupling with the AFM pinning layer. The second pinned layer is antiparallel exchange coupled with the first pinned layer because of the selected thickness of the APC layer between the first and second pinned layers. Accordingly, the magnetization of the second pinned layer is oriented in a second direction that is antiparallel to the direction of the magnetization of the first pinned layer.
Another type of MR read element is a Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) read element. The MTJ read element comprises first and second ferromagnetic layers separated by a thin, electrically insulating, tunnel barrier layer. The barrier layer is sufficiently thin that quantum-mechanical tunneling of charge carriers occurs between the ferromagnetic layers. The tunneling process is electron spin dependent, which means that the tunneling current across the junction depends on the spin-dependent electronic properties of the ferromagnetic materials and is a function of the relative orientation of the magnetic moments, or magnetization directions, of the two ferromagnetic layers. In the MTJ read element, the first ferromagnetic layer has its magnetic moment pinned (referred to as the pinned layer). The second ferromagnetic layer has its magnetic moment free to rotate in response to an external magnetic field from the magnetic disk (referred to as the free layer). When a sense current is applied, the resistance of the MTJ read element is a function of the tunneling current across the insulating layer between the ferromagnetic layers. The tunneling current flows perpendicularly through the tunnel barrier layer, and depends on the relative magnetization directions of the two ferromagnetic layers. A change of direction of magnetization of the free layer causes a change in resistance of the MTJ read element, which is reflected in voltage across the MTJ read element.
GMR read elements and MTJ read elements may be current in plane (CIP) read elements or current perpendicular to the planes (CPP) read elements. Read elements have first and second leads for conducting a sense current through the read element. If the sense current is applied parallel to the major planes of the layers of the read element, then the read element is termed a CIP read element. If the sense current is applied perpendicular to the major planes of the layers of the read element, then the read element is termed a CPP read element.
When a magnetic disk drive is in operation, the ABS (sensing surface) of the read element is positioned adjacent to the magnetic disk of the magnetic disk drive to sense the magnetic flux of the transitions on the magnetic disk. The magnetic flux enters the front edge of the free layer at the ABS. The magnetic flux decays from the front edge of the free layer to the back edge, and is restricted to about zero at the back edge. Thus, it is a problem that the magnetic flux is zero in the active region (the region of the free layer between the ABS and the back edge of the spacer layer or tunnel barrier layer) toward the back edge of the free layer.
One solution to this problem is to use a flux guide. A flux guide extends beyond the back edge of the free layer and beyond the active region. Because the flux guide extends beyond the active region, the magnetic flux is restricted to zero in the flux guide and is not restricted to zero in the active region of the free layer. The amount of magnetic flux in the active region is increased with the flux guide, which enhances the MR signal in the read element.
One problem with current flux guides is current shunt loss in the flux guide. When a sense current is applied to the read element, some of the sense current is shunted away from the active region of the free layer by the flux guide. The amount of sense current shunted away from the active region negatively affects the sensitivity of the read element. This can especially be a problem in CIP read elements when the sense current is applied parallel to the major planes of the read element.